


Side B

by teathyme



Series: tender teacher [1]
Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Not Beta Read, Teacher AU, but... it's not teacher au, tender teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:28:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24052885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teathyme/pseuds/teathyme
Summary: Five times they’ve touched throughout the years.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Series: tender teacher [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747579
Comments: 12
Kudos: 177





	Side B

**Author's Note:**

> been thinking a lot about what if they were in love u know! 
> 
> as usual this is all my friends' faults but mostly [these](https://twitter.com/garowann/status/1257838555780526081) [fucking](https://twitter.com/nyo_nyoxxo/status/1257852021778059269) [three](https://twitter.com/AOM1NE/status/1256897533650956293?s=20) (if they're locked.........then that's unfortunate pls check these out on another day)

1.

Lio has fifth period health with Mr. Thymos, who’s really too peppy and friendly for his own good. He doesn’t care for the class, but doesn’t neglect it. He’s sociable, but not particularly close with any at the school. He’ll probably graduate, move far away from this town, and not show up for any reunions.

Mr. Thymos is passing out an assignment they turned in last week. When he gets to Lio, Mr. Thymos claps a hand on his shoulder and gives it a light squeeze.

“Great job, Lio,” he says, and walks away.

On the drive home he can still feel the warm press of fingers in his shoulder, and squeezes his own hand over it. 

It’s not the same.

  
  


2.

Mr. Thymos is spending lunch playing basketball with a group of seniors, and drags Lio into it. Lio doesn’t know any of the other players’ names.

Some shouts his name, and passes the ball his way. He catches it - jumps, shoots, and lands it neatly in the basket.

Mr. Thymos raises both his hands up, gesturing for a high-five. The palms of his hands are hit hard, enough that Lio can still feel the sting in the moments afterwards. “Nice work, Fotia!” 

They play until the bell rings for lunch to be over. Mr. Thymos throws him a packaged sandwich from the cafeteria. “Eat it. You didn’t get lunch right?” Lio hadn’t even noticed he was hungry. 

Lio starts spending lunches in Mr. Thymos’ classroom.

  
  


3.

Mr. Thymos is now Galo.

For all that Galo is open and friendly during class, he’s not particularly popular with any students or other teachers. So Lio has been the only one in his room during lunch. 

At first they didn’t talk at all - Galo grading paper and doing work up in the front and Lio just going on his phone. Honestly, he doesn’t know how they came to be friends at all - it was like one day they weren’t speaking, and then one day Lio couldn’t remember a time when they  _ weren’t _ close.

Lio starts hanging out with Galo after school too. They’d get cheap food at fast food places around town, and eat on park benches and sidewalks. Galo thinks he’s funny, and laughs at nearly everything he says - full, unabashed laughter. 

Lio thinks he’s fun to be around too, but more than anything he finds Galo’s presence comforting. He’s so relaxed, so happy. Childish. Maybe this is how his youth was always supposed to be like. 

There’s always been a deep pit of resentment in him. Thick and corrosive, like poison. Not too long ago it was going to swallow him whole, and he was going to let it, and drag everyone he could with him. 

But now there’s Galo, who buys him milkshakes and pats his back when he feels like shit. Galo, who he spends all his lunches with. Galo, who makes Lio want to be a better person to be around. 

(“You’re a good kid, Lio,” he said, looking at him like he believed it. And Lio wanted nothing more than to make that true.)

It’s spring break now, but they still hang out. Galo is lonely (just like him) so they meet as often as they can. Today, Galo is on a grocery run, and Lio is just tagging along. They argue over snacks and healthy foods. Lio’s never had much of a sweet tooth, and loves chips. Galo prefers those two-calorie popcorn snacks and fruit. Galo still grabs Lio a bag of his favorite chips, however, even though he’s scolding him about his eating habits the entire time.

They bicker and tease each other while they’re loading and unloading the groceries from Galo’s car. 

“Careful, you don’t want to pull your back, old man.” 

Galo dramatically gasps, putting the bag of groceries he was carrying back in the trunk to put his hands on his hips. “I’m not even thirty yet!” He picks the bag back up and dumps it into Lio’s already full arms. “For that comment you get to carry this too.”

“Guess I’m in the doghouse,” Lio says, laughing. “Married life is tough,” 

“I don’t believe in divorce, Lio. Remember to put the bananas in the basket on the counter.”

When they finish, instead of sitting down on the couch to watch the movie they had both wanted to see, Galo puts on an apron. “You hungry yet? I’m going to make us some food and then we can watch as we eat.”

He makes pasta, and brings two platters over to where Lio is sitting, and makes himself comfortable on the couch.

“Thank you,” Lio mumbles. The food is warm and good. He’s comfortable sitting on Galo’s worn-in sofa, surrounded by the cozy atmosphere of his apartment. There’s a pile of clutter in the corner that Galo kept forgetting to clean up, Galo’s favorite hoodie slung over a chair in the kitchen, a whiteboard filled with post-it notes by the door.

Lio loves Galo’s apartment when he’s in it, but hates it when he has to go home, to a house that is practically sterile in comparison. The housekeeper keeps it neat and clean, and his parents make sure it stays empty too. 

He’s never thought about it when he’s with Galo, but Galo’s never cooked for him either, preferring to order pizza on the occasions when Lio comes over. Now, with food in his stomach, and the presence of a person sitting next to him, he’s made aware of a certain emptiness in him, and he doesn’t like it. 

He thinks it… anger. Resentment. And he lets it boil up in him for a few minutes. He’s angry at his parents, he’s angry at Galo. Though, it doesn’t last for long, because Galo notices the shift in Lio’s mood. “What’s wrong?” he asks, and the vile resentment just melts out of him. All he’s left with is a building shame, and a strange sense of happiness at being seen, being noticed.

He doesn’t know if he wants to answer, but he finds that he doesn’t like lying to Galo - in any capacity. Still, it makes him… nervous. Antsy. “I haven’t had a home cooked meal in a long time,” he finally says, quiet. Like a secret he didn’t want to tell. 

Galo knows what he means, they know enough about each to read between the lines. But vulnerability is still new and raw, like an exposed nerve, and he often wonders if he’s dumb for letting himself be seen like this, before Galo reaffirms that he isn’t. Not around Galo. Never around Galo. 

Galo puts his plate and silverware down, and places a hand over Lio’s clenched fist on the sofa. He makes Lio look him in the eye to know he’s serious. 

“Come over,” Galo says, smiling. “Whenever you want. I’ll make you something.”

Lio feels shaky. Feels like trembling apart. He doesn’t know if he’s been so bare in front of another person. “Yeah?”

The hand over Lio’s squeezes, just a bit. “Yeah.”

  
  


4.

He thinks that without Galo, graduation would’ve been just a chore.

His parents didn’t come, just like he knew they wouldn’t, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is Galo, who stands on the sidelines with a bouquet of flowers and a brilliant smile on his face. 

Lio’s feet are moving before he can register, and soon he’s in a warm, tight hug. 

“Lio,” Galo says, and the pride is so evident in his voice that Lio is almost embarrassed. “You did it. I’m so proud of you.”

The flowers are going to be crushed at this rate, but he finds himself not caring as he clutches to the back of Galo’s dress shirt for all he’s worth. “Thank you.” 

_ Thank you for coming, thank you for all your time, thank you for all the dinners, thank you for everything. _

There’s so much he wants to say. But it’s okay, Galo hears it all. He’s always known exactly what Lio was thinking. “Always, Lio. Always.”

  
  


5.

It’s been five years, a month, and a handful of days. And Lio has been in love with Galo for all of it. 

He hasn’t told him exactly, but he thinks Galo should know at this point. They’re on the same couch, but in the new apartment that they share together. Galo hadn’t wanted to throw it away. Too many memories attached to it, he had said. 

And that’s just fine with Lio, he’s a bit attached to it too. 

Their apartment is filled with memories - the dent in the wall from when Galo tipped off a chair and punched through the drywall with his ass that Lio put a picture frame around. The wine stain in the carpet that they couldn’t get out completely from when they both got a little tipsy after dinner and just both fell over, glasses in hand, laughing over nothing - he doesn’t know how they’re supposed to move when Lio eventually buys them a house. He’s just been looking for the perfect one. 

Tonight is just like any other. Galo is on break and Lio on vacation from work. Lio wanted to go on a trip, but Galo had scolded him, saying that it was a waste of money. Eventually, Lio gave in, but that only means that he’s going to plan and book their next vacation, and just beg for forgiveness on the drive to the airport. 

Galo has been… distant the past few weeks or so, really only snapping out of it when Lio had to go and ask if he had done anything wrong just recently. Galo had looked guilty, and apologized, and Lio thought they were back to normal until two days ago when Galo started quietly following him around the house like a child afraid to ask for pocket money. 

And each time Lio would ask Galo if any was wrong Galo would startle and tell him it was nothing. 

In fact, he can see Galo watching him out of the corner of his eye, and waits until he gets the courage to approach Lio himself. 

Eventually, Galo can’t take waiting any longer. “Lio,” he calls out to him, footsteps making their way to where Lio sits on the couch reading.

“Hm?” Lio hums, not even looking up from his book with Galo takes a seat next to him. 

“Lio, look at me,” Galo says, in a voice so serious Lio thinks he’s in trouble for something. Galo takes a deep breath, and says, “I’m in love with you.”

There’s… static in his brain. Like he’s short circuited and can’t get himself to start up again. 

“Huh?”

This just makes Galo nervous. And when he’s nervous he starts rambling. “I know we’ve been friends for a long time and I didn’t want to ruin anything, but I just couldn’t hold back any longer. I understand if you’re uncomfortable, and if you don’t love me back, but - but please if we could just be friends. You - you’re really important to me, Lio.”

And to his utter horror, Galo starts tearing up, like there was any chance of Lio somehow rejecting him. 

“Wait,” he says, interrupting Galo’s mental spiral, because this was ridiculous. This couldn’t be real. “I thought you already knew I was in love with you.” 

Galo jolts like he’s been shocked. “What? How was I supposed to know that?”

“Galo, I ate dinner with you over video call nearly every night while I was away for college.”

“I thought you were just homesick!”

“We went to Italy together, and I didn’t correct a single person that thought we were together.”

“What would’ve been the point of correcting them anyway? Nobody knew who we were.”

“I bought us an apartment. We’ve been living together for a  _ year _ .”

At this point Galo is beyond confusion, and is just fed up. “Lio!” he yells. “How am I supposed to know when you don’t tell me anything?!”

Why is Galo getting angry? If anyone should be mad it should be him for apparently wasting his time pining away for all these years. Maybe if Galo had given any indication that he felt the same way then they wouldn’t be in this mess! “Well, I don’t know - I thought we had a thing! I thought we were reading between the lines!”

“I’m not a mind reader you idiot!” Galo bites back, ignoring Lio's shocked gasp. (“...idiot?” Lio mumbles to himself. “Me?”) “I just make inferences like a normal person! If I could read minds then it would’ve saved me so much stress over the past few weeks,” Galo huffs. 

Lio opens his mouth to argue some more, because there’s no way he’s going to let Galo have the last word in this, before it strikes him that maybe he is being a little bit of an idiot right now. Isn’t this… what he’s been dreaming of for years? The anger boils down, and Lio finally processes what just happened. “So you love me?”

Galo just raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, duh. And you love me?”

“Yeah,” he says plainly, because it’s been obvious the whole time. “Of course I love you. I’ve been in love with you since I was eighteen.”

Surprisingly, Galo turns red, flushing all the way up to his ears. Well, he guesses it’s because it’s still new to him. Suddenly, a thrill runs up his spine. Lio leans towards Galo on the sofa, one hand supporting his weight and the other coming up to brush a stray hair out of his face.

It’s… amazing to be able to touch Galo like this, and to know he’s allowed. But he can be emotional about that later - right now he just wants to embarrass Galo.

“How long have  _ you  _ been in love with me?”

Galo is so pretty, he’s always so pretty. But Galo, pink and shy, with eyes only for him, is the most beautiful Lio has ever seen him.

“I don’t know,” Galo says, cupping a hand over the one on his face. Lio has never allowed himself to get this close, not while Galo was awake. He has studied Galo’s face in the dark of hotel rooms, eyes sweeping over how dark Galo’s eyelashes were against his cheek, how his mouth fell slightly opened as he breathed. It doesn’t compare to what Galo looks like now, eyes bright - lips curling into a warm smile.

“I think” Galo continues. “I think I’ve loved you for a long time now… “ 

They get closer and closer, like stars that have stopped resisting each other’s gravity. And then they’re both leaning in, and then they’re kissing. It’s as natural as the first time they touched, as the first time they really spoke to each other. 

It’s short, sweet, and Lio wants nothing more than to spend every moment of his life doing it. He’s never known emotion quite like this. 

Lio can’t remember what life was like before he loved Galo. He thinks that there will come a day where he won’t be able to remember what life was like before he knew Galo loved him back.

They pull back, just enough to start holding each other.

“You love me?” Galo whispers in his ear, as shaky as Lio had been on his couch, all those years ago. 

“I do,” Lio says. A vow. “Always, Galo. Always.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> so they're like. not in any way romantic while Lio is in high school. at least that's how I like it with this I want Lio to look to Galo as a very close friend until sometime in his freshman year of college when he misses Galo a lot a realizes that hey.......perhaps.........I love him actually......
> 
> there's a lot of stuff in between but my brain is soup and I don't wanna write all that! sorry for any mistakes btw I didn't get this beta read 
> 
> I'm @teathymee on twitter ;)) come b tender teacher with me


End file.
